Needle for taking up dropped stitches



June 22, 1937. l F, 0, BALL ET AL 2,084,306

CARBURETOR Filed May 51, 1952 g /5 k i al A20 P15117. H JLL INVENTOR.

FREDERICK O. BALL. AND l@ YTHQMA M. BALL..

Patented May 4, 1937 Emil Skriwan, Vienna, Austria Application August 6,1936, Serial No. 94,696

In Austria August 7, 1935 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and improved type of needle for takingup dropped stitches in knitted and stockinette work, in which a slidingmember operated by the stitches of the material is movably mounted inthe shaft of the needle and adapted to close and open the mouth of thehook.

In known needles of this description the sliding member is provided onthe under side with l a prominence projecting from the shaft of theneedle, against which the stitch threads strike on the reciprocation ofthe needle, the sliding member being thereby arrested, and the hookmouth therefore opened and closed. To aid the l5 advancing of thesliding member the upper stitch also bears against the upper edge of thesliding member as soon as this edge, in the course of the forwardmovement of the sliding member, has come clear of the needle shaft andis exposed. However, since the prominence on the under edge of thesliding member is in the immediate neighbourhood of the forward end ofthe sliding member, it may happen, when the pitch or angle of incidenceof the needle is slight, or when the operative is lacking in skill orexperience, that the upper thread fails to come up against the upperedge of the sliding member at all; moreover, the upper thread is apt toslip ofi the straight upper edge of the sliding member, since thisthread is naturally less tensioned than the lower thread against whichthe needle bears in working and against which the needle isinvoluntarily pressed. The upper thread may consequently find its wayinto the hook mouth of the needle instead of being thrown clear of thehook when the needle is retracted. In this case the dropped stitchcaught by the hook of the needle can not be drawn through between thetwo last standing stitches, so that mistakes are made in the work.

With the needle according to the invention this drawback can not arise,since on the one hand the upper thread can not slide off the slidingmember into the hook of the needle, and on the other hand at allpossible angles of incidence of the needle both the upper and the lowerthread bear against or engage the sliding member throughout the entireforward movement of the sliding member. This result is achieved byproviding the head of the sliding member at its upper edge with aprojection extending beyond the upper edge of the shaft, and byproviding the shaft on its under side with a fiat arcuate recess whichroughly corresponds in length to the extent of the forward movement ofthe sliding (Cl. (i6- 117) member, and which extends so far back that,even when the needle is tilted at a slight angle of incidence, the loweredge of the sliding member is exposed for engagement by the lower threadeven at the very commencement of the forward movement initiated by thelower thread. In this manner the further result is also achieved thatfriction between the sliding member and the bottom of the -shaft of theneedle, which would act as a check upon the forward movement of thesliding member, is avoided effectually.

If the opening of the mouth of the hook of the needle is to be effectedby means of a restoring spring known per se, the lug to which one end ofthe spring is attached is provided on the under side of the slidingmember, and passes out through a longitudinal slot in the bottom of theshaft of the needle, with the result that the sliding member isprevented from falling out of the shaft even without the use of theusual sleeve provided on the shaft for this purpose in the types ofneedle hitherto known.

A form of construction embodying the invention is shown, by way ofexample, in the accompanying drawing, in which Figs. l and 2 show theforward portion of the needle according to the invention, on anyenlarged scale, with the mouth of the hook in the opened and in theclosed condition, respectively.

Referring to the drawing, a denotes the needle shaft which terminates atthe forward end in thel hook b, and which is provided throughout itslength with a groove or channel in which the sliding member c is somounted as to be longitudinally reciprocable therein. The front end ofthe sliding member is shaped to form an upwardly extending projection dwhich extends above the upper edge of the shaft even when the slidingmember is retracted. The upper thread of the stitch engages thisprojection and initiates the closing movement of the sliding member whenthe needle is retracted; the upper thread is caught by the projection d,and it can notv therep fore slip off the sliding member into the hook ofthe needle. On the under side the shaft a is provided with a shallowarcuate recess e the length of which is approximately equal to theextent of the forward movement of the sliding member, and which extendsso farback that at every possible angle of incidence of the needle theslidi ig member is engaged on the under side by the lower thread m1 inthe recess e by the time the forward movement of the sliding member isinitiated by the upper thread m2. In this manner faultless forwardmovement of the sliding member is ensured with the avoidance of anyappreciable friction capable of checking the movement of the slidingmember. As can be seen from Pig. 2, the sliding member c remains engagedby both threads, even in the closing position, until finally the upperthread is thrown clear over the projection d on the sliding member andover the hook ofthe needle. The chaindotted line z--x indicates theapproximate posi` tion of the work relatively to the needle, and

thus shows the angle of incidence of the'latter.

The opening of the mouth oi the hook of the needle is effected by thesliding member in a known manner through the instrumentality of a ltension spring f which is attached to the end of the needle shaft whichis not shown in the drawing, whereas the front end of this spring issecured to a lug a projecting from the lower edge of the sliding memberc and extending to the outside through a slot h in the shaft of theneedle. The provision of the lug a on the under side of the slideprevents the latter from falling out of the groove in the shaftand doesaway with the necessity for providing an abutment sleeve about theneedle shaft.

Iclaim: 1. A needle for the taking up of dropped stitches in knitted andstockinette work, in which there is movable in the needle shaft asliding member which closes and opens the mouth of the hook of theneedle. characterised by the fact that the head of the sliding member isprovided on its upper edge with a projection (d) extending above theupper edge of the shaft. and the shaft on its under side with a shallowarcuate recess (e) approximately equalin lengthto the extent of theforward movement of the sliding member and extending so far back that atall possible angles of incidence of the needle to the work thev loweredge of the slide is exposed for engagement by the lower thread alreadyat the commencement of the forward movement of the through a slotprovided at the bottom of the 1 channeled needle shaft. for the purposeof preventing the slide from falling out of the shaft without thenecessity for the abutment sleeve about the shaft of the needle EMILBKRI'WAN.

Provision of an ,25

